


Great Expectations

by mtill999



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Implied Mpreg, M/M, Mpreg, POV Doctor Strange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtill999/pseuds/mtill999
Summary: Responsibilities as the Sorcerer Supreme: protect the world from mystical threatsResponsibilities as the Surgeon Supreme: reverse, prevent or delay pathological changes in the human (or non-human) bodiesResponsibilities as the Sorcerer Supreme and the Surgeon Supreme: ??????????????*pre-Empyre**NO allusions to Charles Dickens's novel
Relationships: Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	Great Expectations

STEPHEN STRANGE THOUGHT JOURNAL:

_Reed and Tony can have one, so why can’t I? Magic is in no way inferior to science._

Half past nine now. _Great._ Another surgery to keep you up all night till dawn. Although it’s hardly new, isn’t it? All those sleepless nights, the happy tears and thanks from the patient’s family to cheer you up, except that you’re just too tired to even wear a smile. Exactly like the old days. Or not. Not like the old days at all, actually. It’s a thousand times more tiring. I never had to be both the Sorcerer Supreme _and_ the Surgeon Supreme, not to mention running an academy. How exactly did Reed and Tony manage?

Been like this for three days, will drop dead any minute. Ah, here comes the sanctum. All I have to do now is to lie down on bed and have a good night’s (actually good noon’s) sleep, to hell with those monsters and surg-

_Knock knock._

No.

What?

There’s a knock?

How come that there’s a knock? Now two knocks. Three.

It can’t be from the hospital, they would’ve just called. Nor the Avengers, T’Challa would have phoned directly as well. Which leaves none but one possibility: an unfortunate citizen deeply troubled by the presence of otherworldly beings seeking refuge from the Sorcerer Supreme as their last resort. Why do I even remain to be the Sorcerer Supreme? Why can’t someone else take up the job? Wanda will do. Or Jericho. Not Loki. But someone younger will be fine too, like Nico. Or Illyana. Really. Anyone will do. Even Billy-

“Kaplan.”

Well, speak of the devil! (Or should I say, ‘speak of the demiurge’? Heard that he called himself that for a while.) Billy Kaplan himself is right here at the door, of course with his inseparable fiancé, Hulkling.

Do you understand that kind of feelings? Knowing that there’s someone out there who’s younger than you and more powerful than you, in a happier and healthier relationship than yours, and will eventually replace you. And when you’re literally dying from lack of sleep, he shows up and knocks on your door asking for your ‘help’?

“Billy and Teddy! Glad to see you two again, but, unfortunately, I’m pretty busy recently. Surely you can go to Wanda and ask her-”

“Oh no, you misunderstood. We need a doctor,” says Billy, followed by his fiancé, Teddy. “Umm, we’ve heard that you’re a surgeon again, Doctor Strange?”

“Yes,” and well, so what? You think I don’t know that Billy’s parents are both doctors? A cardiologist and a psychologist! Covers all the problems you’d encounter these days.

“Billy, your dad has no idea what’s going on?” 

“No.”

“And your mom?”

“No.”

“And there’s literally no other doctors out there on earth except for me?”

“Well...” the boys exchanged a look. “They’ve done tests on me,” says Teddy. “But no one can read, because I’m not human.”

Oh. _Oh._ Then why do you think that I can read? Because I’m the Sorcerer Supreme? And your fiancé is the Demiurge! Why can’t you just ask him?

And how exactly did you survive all these years? You never got ill? At least got wounded, right? Or did you just heal really fast?

“So, what tests have you taken?”

“All of them.”

“Show me.”

“Ummmmm.”

“Any scans? Blood tests? Where’re the reports?”

“At home.”

...What? The Kaplans never told you that you should bring along your records when consulting a doctor?

“Billy?” Teddy turns to his boyfriend and begs for help with those sad eyes.

_“I want the records here.”_

And then there come the records! Well, why can’t you simply wish for your boyfriend to be alright and stop wasting everyone’s time?

“Can you tell what it is, Doctor Strange?”

“Hmmmm...” and no. I studied human physiology, not Kree-Skrull hybrid physiology. “I need more information. Teddy, describe your symptoms.”

“Umm, I feel weird?”

“Can you be more specific?”

“I don’t feel like myself?”

Which is a weird thing indeed to say for a shapeshifter. “Be a just bit more specific, please.”

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. And it’s weird.”

You know as a doctor, what’s our least favorite patient? The kind that when you ask them, “hey, how do you feel?” and they’re like, “I don’t know, doctor, how about you guess and tell me?”

“Any pain?”

“No.”

“Dizziness?”

“No.”

“Nausea?”

“No.”

“Tiredness?”

“No.”

“Depression?”

“No.”

“Cachexia? Malaise?”

“...What?”

“Never mind.”

Well. How the hell am I supposed to construct a differential diagnosis when there’s literally no manifestation to deduce from? And how do you even know if there really is an underlying illness here, instead of just a trick of the mind?

“So how long have you had this ‘weird feeling’?”

“For a while.”

“A while? Like a month?”

“Maybe?”

“Or a week?”

“Maybe?”

“A year?”

“Maybe not.”

“I’m worried about parasites from other dimensions,” says Billy. So they do need me as a sorcerer, not a doctor. Why am I not surprised? And, Billy, as the future Sorcerer Supreme, why can’t you help your boyfriend fix that? 

“I’ll take a look,” and I did. As expected.

“No parasites. When’s the last time you were engaged in a battle?”

“War of the realms? We fought frost giants.”

“Or in that A.I.M. lab with Death’s Head? Does it count?”

“We did everything together, so if Teddy has it, I should too, but I don’t.”

Wow. PDA much? “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, there’s actually nothing? We all worry too much sometimes. It’s normal.”

“But Teddy says he’s feeling unwell.”

“Sorry, I really have no one else to turn to.”

“Don’t worry, Doctor Strange will find a way to help us.”

Which is easy to say, Billy, because you’re not the one who will do all the work! 

“If it gets worse, Tee, tell me and I will search through all possible realities to look for a way-”

“No, Billy, you promised-”

“I know I promised I wouldn’t do it anymore, but this is about you.”

Well then, Billy, why don’t you just do it now? “You know what? You can go home now. I will look into this.”

“Thank y-”

“You’re feeling unwell so go home and rest. Now!”

They’re finally gone. Time to go back to bed.

...You know, being a doctor, you’re forever bound by the Hippocratic Oath, even when you’re off duty, when you’re in your sleep, and when your patient is an alien hybrid teen.

……

“Stephen, wake up.”

“Reed?”

It’s only been an hour. How come that he arrived this fast? Wasn’t he supposed to be in the middle of a family outing in deep space?

“Where’re the others?”

“What others?”

“The Illuminati.”

“There’s no Illuminati anymore, Reed.”

“Then why did you call me? Oh. For relationship advice?”

...Nope. If I needed any relationship advice, I could’ve asked Billy Kap-

Oh right.

“No. I’m just wondering how much do you know about Kree and Skrull physiology.”

“Ah. I never tried dissecting them, but I do know quite a lot. Why are you asking?”

“Well...” a doctor should always protect their patient’s privacy from a third party. “Purely out of academic interests.”

“I knew it! You should come to the seminar.”

“The seminar?”

“Tony had this seminar on alien physiology, though he was only studying females and sex. After I joined it became a serious thing and-”

“...No, that won’t be necessary. Just tell me everything you know about them.”

“Teddy?”

“Doctor Strange!”

The boy sits up from his bed. Camera catches a glimpse of the sheet and the floor. There’s the switch and the pizza box all over the place. It’s a mess, but none of my concern.

“You okay?”

“Oh, ummm,” he looks upset. “Billy’s out working. Not that I’m complaining. It’s just... I kind of miss him.”

“I’m asking if you’re still feeling unwell. Last time you and Billy came to me for this, remember?”

“Oh. Yeah, right. No, actually. I think you’re right. It’s nothing, really.”

“Teddy, look,” time to adopt the serious parenting voice. It always works. “Of course I also hope that it’s nothing. But, just in case, I’m going to ask you a question, and I need you to be absolutely honest with me, okay?”

“...Yeah?”

As a surgeon whose major responsibility nowadays is doing surgeries that no one else can manage, this is usually not my question to ask, but special time begs for special measures, I guess.

“Have you and Billy ever engaged in any unprotected sexual intercourse?”

“Ummmmmmmmmmm.”

So that’s a yes. I knew it. I was hoping that a doctor’s son would have known better. Poor Jeff and Rebecca. All those years of warnings in vain.

“Buuuuuut,” the boy blushes and tries to find himself an excuse. Are all teens like this now? No wonder the numbers are so high.

“We’ve only ever had sex with each other, so there shouldn’t be any disease.”

“I never said you had any disease.”

“And I’m an alien hybrid! Which means I’m immune to-”

“Teddy, I didn’t say you had any disease! You don’t, nor does Billy.”

“Oh. So what’s the problem?”

“Well, it’s just a hypothesis of mine.”

“Yes?”

“The working theory is, you see, you and Billy obviously love each other very much. So...”

Imagine this: a shapeshifter and a reality warper falling in love. We all know how our genotypes determine our phenotypes, so let’s assume that shapeshifting is actually voluntarily selecting which genes to be activated and thus what forms to take. Factors that may alter the expressions of genes include the environment and hormone levels. When you’re in love, and when you’re having sex, the fluctuations in hormone levels may just unintentionally lead to physiological changes. Not to mention that you have this sorcerer who can alter reality on a whim. A glance into the future, a trick played by destiny, a subconscious desire propelled by animal instincts, and an overwhelming amount of love. Add all that up, and what do you get? Surprise surprise.

At least this time it’s not going to end up like M-Day. Hopefully.

“Although, as I’ve said, it’s just a theory at the moment, Teddy, so don’t take it to heart. Maybe it’s nothing after all!”

Apparently those words of mine failed to calm a shocked Teddy down. “Anyway, it's still too early to tell. I will keep looking into this and inform you when I can draw a definitive conclusion.”

“But Doctor Strange, how is that possi-”

“Well I’m busy now. Later.”

Not gonna lie, though, as the one and only Surgeon Supreme, how could I ever be wrong?


End file.
